South Africa, Namibia, Victoria Falls, Mauritius & UAE via Emirates First, Qatar Biz
Nov 2, 2016, 8:09 am
#79
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Netherlands
Programs: BA | A3 | AFKL | Hertz | SPG | Avis
Posts: 748
Both the Sossus Dune Lodge and the Pelican Point Lodge (don't know why you call it "Penguin Point" multiple times...) look inspirational; thanks for the great trip report.
Nov 2, 2016, 1:15 pm
#81
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Houston, TX
Programs: HHonors Diamond, IHG Spire
Posts: 5
A few quick points on your trip through Namibia, those roads are standard roads in the country. Nearly 90% of the highways are actually gravel that are graded a few times a year, which is why the insurance is stressed on hire cars. But they're generally in really good condition, when I lived there for 2 years I had a standard sedan and had no issues driving those roads all of the time.
As for the lodges, the internet is unreliable and they typically are dealing with an outside company handling the bookings as they don't have constant connection in most of them. The best bet to avoid the hassles of emailing and third party payment sites is to use an agent. You actually will end up saving quite a bit of money using an agent because the lodges give a discount to the agent, which is passed along to you. Even when I lived in the country, and would take a weekend trip somewhere I would use an agent because it was a better rate...this coming from me actually being in some of the lodges planning a stay there on my own instead of with work.
Great TR so far though, can't wait to see the rest of Namibia, I really miss flying/living down there.
As for the lodges, the internet is unreliable and they typically are dealing with an outside company handling the bookings as they don't have constant connection in most of them. The best bet to avoid the hassles of emailing and third party payment sites is to use an agent. You actually will end up saving quite a bit of money using an agent because the lodges give a discount to the agent, which is passed along to you. Even when I lived in the country, and would take a weekend trip somewhere I would use an agent because it was a better rate...this coming from me actually being in some of the lodges planning a stay there on my own instead of with work.
Great TR so far though, can't wait to see the rest of Namibia, I really miss flying/living down there.
Nov 2, 2016, 7:01 pm
#82
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: JNB
Programs: Flying Blue, Miles and Smiles, Hhonors, ICHotels
Posts: 1,307
It could be the Southern Masked Weaver which is endemic to the region. The name may have changed - my iPad app is a bit out of date, and I am 5000 miles from home, so need to rely on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociable_weaver
Enjoying the report so far - brings back some memories.
Nov 4, 2016, 10:54 pm
#83
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
. 
.Thank you marcccus. Welcome to Flyertalk.
Thanks miamiflyer8. More coming up shortly.
A few quick points on your trip through Namibia, those roads are standard roads in the country. Nearly 90% of the highways are actually gravel that are graded a few times a year, which is why the insurance is stressed on hire cars. But they're generally in really good condition, when I lived there for 2 years I had a standard sedan and had no issues driving those roads all of the time.
As for the lodges, the internet is unreliable and they typically are dealing with an outside company handling the bookings as they don't have constant connection in most of them. The best bet to avoid the hassles of emailing and third party payment sites is to use an agent. You actually will end up saving quite a bit of money using an agent because the lodges give a discount to the agent, which is passed along to you. Even when I lived in the country, and would take a weekend trip somewhere I would use an agent because it was a better rate...this coming from me actually being in some of the lodges planning a stay there on my own instead of with work.
Great TR so far though, can't wait to see the rest of Namibia, I really miss flying/living down there.
As for the lodges, the internet is unreliable and they typically are dealing with an outside company handling the bookings as they don't have constant connection in most of them. The best bet to avoid the hassles of emailing and third party payment sites is to use an agent. You actually will end up saving quite a bit of money using an agent because the lodges give a discount to the agent, which is passed along to you. Even when I lived in the country, and would take a weekend trip somewhere I would use an agent because it was a better rate...this coming from me actually being in some of the lodges planning a stay there on my own instead of with work.
Great TR so far though, can't wait to see the rest of Namibia, I really miss flying/living down there.
It could be the Southern Masked Weaver which is endemic to the region. The name may have changed - my iPad app is a bit out of date, and I am 5000 miles from home, so need to rely on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociable_weaver
Enjoying the report so far - brings back some memories.
Nov 4, 2016, 11:02 pm
#84
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
Road Trip
Walvis Bay to Windhoek via Spitskoppe.
Namibia
Distance Traveled: 468 km
Today’s drive looked mostly like this (the blue line), less the Spitskoppe side trip. With the exception of the Pelican Point sandbar departure, the route was paved all the way.
After our walk about around the Pelican Point, we packed up the car and headed for Walvis Bay, Swanpkomund and onward to Windhoek. For those that are contemplating the drive in / out on the sandbar, and can’t be bothered to bring or pack the gauge, our tires looked like this in their deflated state.
It took us almost 1 hour to get off the Pelican Point sand spit, as it took us a while to find the trail head, and I was driving slowly (25 km/h- due to the deflated tires) as I didn’t want any untoward damage. It took us a while to find the trail head as it wasn’t sign posted easily (sand bars don’t have signs) and there were a lot of tidal pools of unknown depth or firmness that prevented cris-crossing the sand bar on the east side. I wasn’t about to get a rental truck stuck there, so we played it very safe.
We eventually got closer by passing by the natural pink flamingo populations near the edge of the sand spit.
Finally back on land, I located a Shell gas station in town, tanked up the car and We passed by the sand dunes of Walvis Bay and the upscale houses that they had on the coast line.
We also passed by Swankpomund, which appeared to be a charming sea side town with nice coastal views. It reportedly has very cold ocean water as most of the ocean currents come from the Antarctica south.
I was looking for a car wash as the truck was looking absolutely filthy and sure to withstand an additional cleaning charge on return to the airport with all the salt encrusted sand stuck all over the running boards and the salt water smearing to the windows (with those white lined water droplets over every window). As it was Sunday, most of the car washes in Walvis Bay and Swankomund were lined up 7-10 cars deep. I had hoped to find another one in a highway town on the drive back, but was unable to locate one until Windhoek. There is a bit more on that a bit later.
We headed inland and took a drive past Spitskoppe. It was about 30 minutes off the main highway and the Namibian government wanted $16 USD for a permit for us to enter with our car, despite us only wanting to take a few pictures. Since time was tight due to the gates closing and darkness falling in late afternoon, we just opted for the photographs from the roadside.
It was quite an impressive place, with a lot of opportunities to drive around. I would have loved to have spend some more time there looking as it appears that you can drive around the entire structure with lots of trails that begged to be explored on foot.
Without further Spitskoppe exploration, we carried on towards Windhoek. There was almost nowhere to stop for lunch or for snacks other than a few Engen gas stations that also appeared to be the town public washroom. MrsWT73 attempted to use one but found it lined up with about 20 people. Overall it was a very pretty and scenic drive from the coast to the capital.
It took us about 6 hours of driving to get from Walvis Bay to Windhoek with the side stop. It was pretty much single file traffic the whole way with a few trucks in between. There were only a few places that had passing lanes so it was a slow go all up.
When we arrived to Windhoek at about 7:30PM on a Sunday evening, I dropped MrsWT73 at our hotel for the night, the Hilton Windhoek. I set out to attempt to wash and tank up the car prior to it’s return tomorrow I asked the hotel concierge for some recommendations for an automated car wash or a self wash bay. They suggested two places and I drove over to them but they were all closed. All the wash bays in Windhoek, and Namibia for that matter, appeared to be full service bays (using hand human washers) that closed after regular working hours. Some were only open 5 days a week and being a weekend, I appeared to be out of luck. I was unable to find any self service bays or even the basic automatic roll over car washes at gas stations that we had at home.
I ended up going old school and asked a Shell gas station attendant if he could help me clean the car. He was entrepreneur and brought out the gas station high pressure fire hose and immediately hosed down the entire car and undercarriage right then and there in the gas pump lane. He did such a through job, I gave him a 100NAD ($7 USD) tip on the spot as it would have surely saved me some time explaining the state of the car to the Hertz dealer. Receiving the tip, he looked like he had gone over the moon with happiness and frankly I was thankful for getting the car looking new again.
Walvis Bay to Windhoek via Spitskoppe.
Namibia
Distance Traveled: 468 km
Today’s drive looked mostly like this (the blue line), less the Spitskoppe side trip. With the exception of the Pelican Point sandbar departure, the route was paved all the way.
After our walk about around the Pelican Point, we packed up the car and headed for Walvis Bay, Swanpkomund and onward to Windhoek. For those that are contemplating the drive in / out on the sandbar, and can’t be bothered to bring or pack the gauge, our tires looked like this in their deflated state.
It took us almost 1 hour to get off the Pelican Point sand spit, as it took us a while to find the trail head, and I was driving slowly (25 km/h- due to the deflated tires) as I didn’t want any untoward damage. It took us a while to find the trail head as it wasn’t sign posted easily (sand bars don’t have signs) and there were a lot of tidal pools of unknown depth or firmness that prevented cris-crossing the sand bar on the east side. I wasn’t about to get a rental truck stuck there, so we played it very safe.
We eventually got closer by passing by the natural pink flamingo populations near the edge of the sand spit.
Finally back on land, I located a Shell gas station in town, tanked up the car and We passed by the sand dunes of Walvis Bay and the upscale houses that they had on the coast line.
We also passed by Swankpomund, which appeared to be a charming sea side town with nice coastal views. It reportedly has very cold ocean water as most of the ocean currents come from the Antarctica south.
I was looking for a car wash as the truck was looking absolutely filthy and sure to withstand an additional cleaning charge on return to the airport with all the salt encrusted sand stuck all over the running boards and the salt water smearing to the windows (with those white lined water droplets over every window). As it was Sunday, most of the car washes in Walvis Bay and Swankomund were lined up 7-10 cars deep. I had hoped to find another one in a highway town on the drive back, but was unable to locate one until Windhoek. There is a bit more on that a bit later.
We headed inland and took a drive past Spitskoppe. It was about 30 minutes off the main highway and the Namibian government wanted $16 USD for a permit for us to enter with our car, despite us only wanting to take a few pictures. Since time was tight due to the gates closing and darkness falling in late afternoon, we just opted for the photographs from the roadside.
It was quite an impressive place, with a lot of opportunities to drive around. I would have loved to have spend some more time there looking as it appears that you can drive around the entire structure with lots of trails that begged to be explored on foot.
Without further Spitskoppe exploration, we carried on towards Windhoek. There was almost nowhere to stop for lunch or for snacks other than a few Engen gas stations that also appeared to be the town public washroom. MrsWT73 attempted to use one but found it lined up with about 20 people. Overall it was a very pretty and scenic drive from the coast to the capital.
It took us about 6 hours of driving to get from Walvis Bay to Windhoek with the side stop. It was pretty much single file traffic the whole way with a few trucks in between. There were only a few places that had passing lanes so it was a slow go all up.
When we arrived to Windhoek at about 7:30PM on a Sunday evening, I dropped MrsWT73 at our hotel for the night, the Hilton Windhoek. I set out to attempt to wash and tank up the car prior to it’s return tomorrow I asked the hotel concierge for some recommendations for an automated car wash or a self wash bay. They suggested two places and I drove over to them but they were all closed. All the wash bays in Windhoek, and Namibia for that matter, appeared to be full service bays (using hand human washers) that closed after regular working hours. Some were only open 5 days a week and being a weekend, I appeared to be out of luck. I was unable to find any self service bays or even the basic automatic roll over car washes at gas stations that we had at home.
I ended up going old school and asked a Shell gas station attendant if he could help me clean the car. He was entrepreneur and brought out the gas station high pressure fire hose and immediately hosed down the entire car and undercarriage right then and there in the gas pump lane. He did such a through job, I gave him a 100NAD ($7 USD) tip on the spot as it would have surely saved me some time explaining the state of the car to the Hertz dealer. Receiving the tip, he looked like he had gone over the moon with happiness and frankly I was thankful for getting the car looking new again.
Nov 4, 2016, 11:08 pm
#85
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
Hilton Windhoek
We booked in here as it looked much nicer than the Protea hotels in town. While I was driving around town looking for a car wash, I drove by the Protea property and it was appeared so run down, we surely had made the right choice. The Hilton hotel is in a 4 year old building, built to African standards. This means that the fit and finish is a little worse for wear. Since we had no real affiliation to Hilton Hhonors these days, I booked using Rocket Miles at the same rate as offered on the Hilton website, and earned 3,500 Aeroplan Miles for the one night stay. Some photos of the lobby area including some strange club type lighting.
We had a very polite, patient (slowwww) and professional check in. We were assigned room #502. We headed up to the room and started to set up shop in there.
When it came time to go for dinner, I gave the door of #502 a tug and was a bit shocked to see that it could open without even using the key. The door wasn’t seating properly in the frame, meaning that anyone could come along, push on the door from the locked position, and open it from the closed position.
I went back down to the front desk and asked for another room. I was immediately given #417, another king bed. I went and started to move in there, but when I got there, it was full of “past smoke” smell. I didn’t bother to see if it was a smoking room, but instead returned to the front desk and got a third room #405. Although it appeared to have been smoked in, it had that fragrant smell of cover up. It was nearing 8 PM by this time, and we still hadn’t eaten dinner, and still had to break down and re-distribute the weight in our bags to comply with our economy class air tickets, so we stuck with the room behind door #3. This was the first of the three rooms we had the pleasure of staying in (#417).
We ended up going straight up to the roof top bar on the ninth floor. It was a completely outdoor affair with a bar outside in the open night air. We had some basic western food as a late dinner along with a gin and tonic and a Savanna Cider. Drinks were reasonable and it was an entertaining spot that the whole hotel happened to be through. It was another neat way to close the chapter on our Namibia driving adventure.
The Hilton Windhoek wasn’t a bad place to stay while in town. We didn't get to stay along, but stayed long enough to get a feel of the place. It was conveniently located on the highway to and from the airport, had a secure underground and had a reasonable restaurant that was outdoors on the roof tops. The rooms were typically African – meaning that they had a unique personality that bordered on oddly décored and had their niggles with them. The rates were reasonable and it looked nice compared to the Protea hotels, if only from the outside. I would easily stay here again.
We booked in here as it looked much nicer than the Protea hotels in town. While I was driving around town looking for a car wash, I drove by the Protea property and it was appeared so run down, we surely had made the right choice. The Hilton hotel is in a 4 year old building, built to African standards. This means that the fit and finish is a little worse for wear. Since we had no real affiliation to Hilton Hhonors these days, I booked using Rocket Miles at the same rate as offered on the Hilton website, and earned 3,500 Aeroplan Miles for the one night stay. Some photos of the lobby area including some strange club type lighting.
We had a very polite, patient (slowwww) and professional check in. We were assigned room #502. We headed up to the room and started to set up shop in there.
When it came time to go for dinner, I gave the door of #502 a tug and was a bit shocked to see that it could open without even using the key. The door wasn’t seating properly in the frame, meaning that anyone could come along, push on the door from the locked position, and open it from the closed position.
I went back down to the front desk and asked for another room. I was immediately given #417, another king bed. I went and started to move in there, but when I got there, it was full of “past smoke” smell. I didn’t bother to see if it was a smoking room, but instead returned to the front desk and got a third room #405. Although it appeared to have been smoked in, it had that fragrant smell of cover up. It was nearing 8 PM by this time, and we still hadn’t eaten dinner, and still had to break down and re-distribute the weight in our bags to comply with our economy class air tickets, so we stuck with the room behind door #3. This was the first of the three rooms we had the pleasure of staying in (#417).
We ended up going straight up to the roof top bar on the ninth floor. It was a completely outdoor affair with a bar outside in the open night air. We had some basic western food as a late dinner along with a gin and tonic and a Savanna Cider. Drinks were reasonable and it was an entertaining spot that the whole hotel happened to be through. It was another neat way to close the chapter on our Namibia driving adventure.
The Hilton Windhoek wasn’t a bad place to stay while in town. We didn't get to stay along, but stayed long enough to get a feel of the place. It was conveniently located on the highway to and from the airport, had a secure underground and had a reasonable restaurant that was outdoors on the roof tops. The rooms were typically African – meaning that they had a unique personality that bordered on oddly décored and had their niggles with them. The rates were reasonable and it looked nice compared to the Protea hotels, if only from the outside. I would easily stay here again.
Nov 4, 2016, 11:19 pm
#86
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
Air Namibia
Economy Class
WDH-MUB-VFA (Windhoek International Airport – Muan – Victoria Falls)
SW403
April 25, 2016
Booked: Embruaer 135
Flown: Embruaer 135
Departure: 8:15 AM
Arrival: 11:35 AM
We continued on to Victoria Falls with the air carrier Air Namibia. We had the flight option of getting to Victoria Falls via British Airways or South African Airways with a connection in Johannesburg. It was really out of the way for us to take the South African Airways or British Airways route and would have been about a 7 hour trip. It made much more sense for us to go direct on the 4x weekly flight from Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls in about a 3 hour trip. It also put us into Victoria Falls just before lunch, allowing us to get more out of the rest of the day. As we had purchased a ticket from Cape Town to Victoria Falls (with a Windhoek stopver) the ticket was also reasonably priced.
The Windhoek International Airport is approximately 40 km from the town of Windhoek. I don’t know what the rationale was behind putting the airport way out there, as there is heaps of available real estate around Windhoek proper. It took us about 30 minutes to drive out there from our hotel.
When we got there to return the rental car, Hertz did a close check over of the car, loved the cleaning job (they didn’t say anything), and actually asked to see proof of the gas receipts despite the fuel gauge showing as full. Since we had received the car as full, but not super full, I had the assumption that filling up in Windhoek and driving the 40 km out to the airport was okay. The lot attendant didn’t tell us anything, other than indicate that everything was “OK” and we went inside to check in.
Returning our car at the Hertz counter, we asked for our contract to be officially closed out so that we could get our 127,241 NAD$ ($8,946.36 USD) First Amount Payable deposit refunded to our card. The manager indicated that the car wasn’t full of diesel and that another 55.17 NAD$ ($3.88 USD) in fuel had to be added to the tank to the contract being closed out. We ended up waiting another 10 minutes at the counter allowing for this to be completed. I challenged them about the car not being completely full, but they didn't really have anything to say about it - nor did they budge from their position. Thankfully, there was no labor or administrative charge for the fuel.
We headed over to Air Namibia’s check in desks where there were huge lines. They had 3 flights departing, and only 3 staffed counter agenrs working including business class. At the time of this report, they didn’t offer online check in and it was a really slow process in comparison to our Cape Town quick and easy check in experience. There were no kiosks available. It took us approximately 30 minutes in line, in addition to the 10 minutes at the Hertz counter to get us shorted out. If you find yourselves departing from here, make sure you leave yourselves lots of extra time.
Our Embrauer 135 flights advertised only one piece of checked baggage and only one carry on due to the small size of the aircraft. Despite being a few pounds over, and traveling with a rollie, Air Namibia was not concerned about the bag weight or the rollies.
We headed through security and into the small holding area. The Windhoek airport does not have any gates and the boarding is all through walking across the apron onto your plane.
We got on board the Embrauer 135 and managed to get the rollies under our seats after we thinned them out. They didn’t fit in the overheads as with other ERJ135’s of this type. Thank fully, there were only about 20 on board today out of 36 seat capacity and as a result, there were a lot of empty seats. The seat configuration was 1-2, similar to other ERJ135’s I have been on. It was quite a relief that we were able to get our bags onboard as we had 70 lbs baggage allowance and two bags on all our other flights on this trip except for our Air Namibia flights.
Our pilots today were both women. We had a quick and straight departure eastwards towards Maun. I still can’t get over how interesting the bush scenary is in this part of the world. There are miles and miles to be flown without much to look at on the ground.
A hot breakfast was served, along with a tea and coffee service.
Our flight time was only a little over an hour with a +1 hour time change. There wasn’t much to look at along the way, with some pretty flat topography.
We came in for a straight approach into Maun. On the final approach, I had the opportunity to see some of the local square housing that residents lived in under the landing flight path.
Most of the plane’s passengers got off in Maun, leaving only 7 passengers (including ourselves) continuing onto Victoria Falls. I was relieved a bit that there wasn’t a flight cancellation due to low passenger numbers. The pilot announced a 35 minute technical stop period. We happened to arrive early, and not a lot happened during that technical stop. We didn’t take on any fuel, although the capitan did proceed to do a walk around of the plane. The sole flight attendent also cleaned every single unoccupied seat and table with an alcohol spray. I’d never see that on United Airlines! I thought that we were waiting for additional passengers, although none ever showed up. We eventually got underway for a 35 minute flight to Victoria Falls.
There was a snack service between Maun and Victoria Falls. It was the first time I’d ever been served Biltong (cured meat) on board an aircraft as a snack.
As we landed, those on the left side had a view of the Victoria Falls mist. It wasn’t a view worth writing home about as it was quite a ways away. Yes – that’s it with the faint horizon.
There were some interesting aircraft on the ground. I was pretty sure Air Zimbabwe was insolvent after they stopped flying internationally to the United Kingdom but they appear to be still around. You can see one of their air frames parked in front of the old Victoria Falls terminal building.
The Victoria Falls Airport has under gone a vast improvement since the last time I had passed through there some 19 years ago. The airport has actual jet bridges now, although our plane was too short to use them. All seven of us unloaded on to the tarmac and headed for International Arrivals where our visas where processed. The US cash dollars for the Zimbabwe Visa’s were received and placed loosely into a drawer at the immigration booth. It was the first time I had ever traveled internationally and only had another 5 passengers to deal with at the immigration counters, similar to flying private.
Air Namibia was generally great to deal with. There were no hassles and everyone that we dealt with, from check – in, to the crew, to the pilots were pleasant and enthusiastic. The only minus was the lack of online check in and the queues at Windhoek airport that were quite long and slow. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to fly them again in the future.
Economy Class
WDH-MUB-VFA (Windhoek International Airport – Muan – Victoria Falls)
SW403
April 25, 2016
Booked: Embruaer 135
Flown: Embruaer 135
Departure: 8:15 AM
Arrival: 11:35 AM
We continued on to Victoria Falls with the air carrier Air Namibia. We had the flight option of getting to Victoria Falls via British Airways or South African Airways with a connection in Johannesburg. It was really out of the way for us to take the South African Airways or British Airways route and would have been about a 7 hour trip. It made much more sense for us to go direct on the 4x weekly flight from Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls in about a 3 hour trip. It also put us into Victoria Falls just before lunch, allowing us to get more out of the rest of the day. As we had purchased a ticket from Cape Town to Victoria Falls (with a Windhoek stopver) the ticket was also reasonably priced.
The Windhoek International Airport is approximately 40 km from the town of Windhoek. I don’t know what the rationale was behind putting the airport way out there, as there is heaps of available real estate around Windhoek proper. It took us about 30 minutes to drive out there from our hotel.
When we got there to return the rental car, Hertz did a close check over of the car, loved the cleaning job (they didn’t say anything), and actually asked to see proof of the gas receipts despite the fuel gauge showing as full. Since we had received the car as full, but not super full, I had the assumption that filling up in Windhoek and driving the 40 km out to the airport was okay. The lot attendant didn’t tell us anything, other than indicate that everything was “OK” and we went inside to check in.
Returning our car at the Hertz counter, we asked for our contract to be officially closed out so that we could get our 127,241 NAD$ ($8,946.36 USD) First Amount Payable deposit refunded to our card. The manager indicated that the car wasn’t full of diesel and that another 55.17 NAD$ ($3.88 USD) in fuel had to be added to the tank to the contract being closed out. We ended up waiting another 10 minutes at the counter allowing for this to be completed. I challenged them about the car not being completely full, but they didn't really have anything to say about it - nor did they budge from their position. Thankfully, there was no labor or administrative charge for the fuel.
We headed over to Air Namibia’s check in desks where there were huge lines. They had 3 flights departing, and only 3 staffed counter agenrs working including business class. At the time of this report, they didn’t offer online check in and it was a really slow process in comparison to our Cape Town quick and easy check in experience. There were no kiosks available. It took us approximately 30 minutes in line, in addition to the 10 minutes at the Hertz counter to get us shorted out. If you find yourselves departing from here, make sure you leave yourselves lots of extra time.
Our Embrauer 135 flights advertised only one piece of checked baggage and only one carry on due to the small size of the aircraft. Despite being a few pounds over, and traveling with a rollie, Air Namibia was not concerned about the bag weight or the rollies.
We headed through security and into the small holding area. The Windhoek airport does not have any gates and the boarding is all through walking across the apron onto your plane.
We got on board the Embrauer 135 and managed to get the rollies under our seats after we thinned them out. They didn’t fit in the overheads as with other ERJ135’s of this type. Thank fully, there were only about 20 on board today out of 36 seat capacity and as a result, there were a lot of empty seats. The seat configuration was 1-2, similar to other ERJ135’s I have been on. It was quite a relief that we were able to get our bags onboard as we had 70 lbs baggage allowance and two bags on all our other flights on this trip except for our Air Namibia flights.
Our pilots today were both women. We had a quick and straight departure eastwards towards Maun. I still can’t get over how interesting the bush scenary is in this part of the world. There are miles and miles to be flown without much to look at on the ground.
A hot breakfast was served, along with a tea and coffee service.
Our flight time was only a little over an hour with a +1 hour time change. There wasn’t much to look at along the way, with some pretty flat topography.
We came in for a straight approach into Maun. On the final approach, I had the opportunity to see some of the local square housing that residents lived in under the landing flight path.
Most of the plane’s passengers got off in Maun, leaving only 7 passengers (including ourselves) continuing onto Victoria Falls. I was relieved a bit that there wasn’t a flight cancellation due to low passenger numbers. The pilot announced a 35 minute technical stop period. We happened to arrive early, and not a lot happened during that technical stop. We didn’t take on any fuel, although the capitan did proceed to do a walk around of the plane. The sole flight attendent also cleaned every single unoccupied seat and table with an alcohol spray. I’d never see that on United Airlines! I thought that we were waiting for additional passengers, although none ever showed up. We eventually got underway for a 35 minute flight to Victoria Falls.
There was a snack service between Maun and Victoria Falls. It was the first time I’d ever been served Biltong (cured meat) on board an aircraft as a snack.
As we landed, those on the left side had a view of the Victoria Falls mist. It wasn’t a view worth writing home about as it was quite a ways away. Yes – that’s it with the faint horizon.
There were some interesting aircraft on the ground. I was pretty sure Air Zimbabwe was insolvent after they stopped flying internationally to the United Kingdom but they appear to be still around. You can see one of their air frames parked in front of the old Victoria Falls terminal building.
The Victoria Falls Airport has under gone a vast improvement since the last time I had passed through there some 19 years ago. The airport has actual jet bridges now, although our plane was too short to use them. All seven of us unloaded on to the tarmac and headed for International Arrivals where our visas where processed. The US cash dollars for the Zimbabwe Visa’s were received and placed loosely into a drawer at the immigration booth. It was the first time I had ever traveled internationally and only had another 5 passengers to deal with at the immigration counters, similar to flying private.
Air Namibia was generally great to deal with. There were no hassles and everyone that we dealt with, from check – in, to the crew, to the pilots were pleasant and enthusiastic. The only minus was the lack of online check in and the queues at Windhoek airport that were quite long and slow. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to fly them again in the future.
Nov 4, 2016, 11:33 pm
#87
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
The Victoria Falls Hotel,
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
I had last been to Victoria Falls almost 19 years ago. They were even using the old Zim Dollars, along with a side of US currency on that last visit. As some may know, the Zim dollar had a one hundred trillion dollar note before it was delisted. The town has changed quite a lot since then, as has our income level.
On our stay this time, and MrsWT73’s first visit, we opted for the convenience and elegance of The Victoria Falls Hotel. Again, I found a better rate on Expedia than I did on the hotel website (by about $150 USD over two nights) and just booked with Expedia.
I arranged a shared van transfer through the hotel. Being the only flight arriving at that time, we were pretty much assured of being the only passengers on the van. We had the short 20 kilometer drive into town.
The Victoria Falls Hotel has been in operation since 1904 and is one of the grand old colonial railway hotels on the Cape Town to Cairo railway. The railway was partially built but never finished. We were given a refreshing towel and welcome drink at check in. At noon, our room was not available, but they worked hard to get us a room by 2 PM. The grounds here are absolutely spectacular and the overall space is unrivaled in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa.
The hotel offered peek a poo views of the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
We went out to pass the time by having lunch on the patio while we waited for the room to become available. A lovely gin and tonic for me along with sandwiches and a small salad. A glass of South African white for MrsWT73 and a sandwich for her.
After lunch, we headed though the lobby to find out our room assignment. The indoor lobby bar was similar to that of a regal hunting lodge. It had décor that was unique, yet completely with the period and look and feel of the hotel.
The formal dining room also looked quite classy.
Our assigned room #68, was a small but well appointed room. It contained bottled water, a nice bathroom, in room safes, slippers, chocolates on the bed during turn down service, fly screens over the bed an all the elegance one would expect from a regal hotel.
The property had a nice terrace, with a view of the Victoria Falls Bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The property also had a pleasant pool (by African standards). Even by most Four Points by Sheraton standards, it was a pretty nice place.
There were also several monkeys and warthogs roaming around the property at odd times.
The Victoria Falls Hotel was a very comfortable place to stay. With it's large estate grounds, we were really happy to have a well situated and relaxing place to call home. The hotel is well featured and with its nice gin and tonics' on the Stanley Terrace, we had easily found the British outpost of years past replicated immaculately in 2016.
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
I had last been to Victoria Falls almost 19 years ago. They were even using the old Zim Dollars, along with a side of US currency on that last visit. As some may know, the Zim dollar had a one hundred trillion dollar note before it was delisted. The town has changed quite a lot since then, as has our income level.
On our stay this time, and MrsWT73’s first visit, we opted for the convenience and elegance of The Victoria Falls Hotel. Again, I found a better rate on Expedia than I did on the hotel website (by about $150 USD over two nights) and just booked with Expedia.
I arranged a shared van transfer through the hotel. Being the only flight arriving at that time, we were pretty much assured of being the only passengers on the van. We had the short 20 kilometer drive into town.
The Victoria Falls Hotel has been in operation since 1904 and is one of the grand old colonial railway hotels on the Cape Town to Cairo railway. The railway was partially built but never finished. We were given a refreshing towel and welcome drink at check in. At noon, our room was not available, but they worked hard to get us a room by 2 PM. The grounds here are absolutely spectacular and the overall space is unrivaled in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa.
The hotel offered peek a poo views of the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
We went out to pass the time by having lunch on the patio while we waited for the room to become available. A lovely gin and tonic for me along with sandwiches and a small salad. A glass of South African white for MrsWT73 and a sandwich for her.
After lunch, we headed though the lobby to find out our room assignment. The indoor lobby bar was similar to that of a regal hunting lodge. It had décor that was unique, yet completely with the period and look and feel of the hotel.
The formal dining room also looked quite classy.
Our assigned room #68, was a small but well appointed room. It contained bottled water, a nice bathroom, in room safes, slippers, chocolates on the bed during turn down service, fly screens over the bed an all the elegance one would expect from a regal hotel.
The property had a nice terrace, with a view of the Victoria Falls Bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The property also had a pleasant pool (by African standards). Even by most Four Points by Sheraton standards, it was a pretty nice place.
There were also several monkeys and warthogs roaming around the property at odd times.
The Victoria Falls Hotel was a very comfortable place to stay. With it's large estate grounds, we were really happy to have a well situated and relaxing place to call home. The hotel is well featured and with its nice gin and tonics' on the Stanley Terrace, we had easily found the British outpost of years past replicated immaculately in 2016.
Last edited by worldtraveller73; Nov 13, 2016 at 11:33 am
Nov 5, 2016, 9:48 am
#88
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: PDX-EUG
Posts: 131
Ah, the memories, as we were just here 3 weeks ago! Wonderful stay, but unfortunately, our netting over the bed had holes and my daughter was munched several times in the face by mosquitos in one night.
I would highly recommend the Jungle Junction dinner, as there is a performance provided by local villagers.
I would highly recommend the Jungle Junction dinner, as there is a performance provided by local villagers.
Nov 7, 2016, 11:27 am
#89
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Houston, TX
Programs: HHonors Diamond, IHG Spire
Posts: 5
[B]Air Namibia
The Windhoek International Airport is approximately 40 km from the town of Windhoek. I don’t know what the rationale was behind putting the airport way out there, as there is heaps of available real estate around Windhoek proper. It took us about 30 minutes to drive out there from our hotel.
The Windhoek International Airport is approximately 40 km from the town of Windhoek. I don’t know what the rationale was behind putting the airport way out there, as there is heaps of available real estate around Windhoek proper. It took us about 30 minutes to drive out there from our hotel.
I've also heard that due to the elevation above sea level that if an aircraft loses an engine they may not have the climb performance to out climb the terrain surrounding Windhoek, so the airport was built further out for that eventuality.